Smart scheduling for intermodulation distortion avoidance on multiple uplink transmissions

Abstract

The disclosed technology provides a system and method for scheduling downlink transmissions and for granting uplink frequency resources to a user device such that concurrent transmissions and receptions by the user device, or multiple concurrent transmissions and receptions by the user device, does not lead to deleterious intermodulation distortion or at least minimizes the extent of any such resulting intermodulation distortion.

We claim: 
     
       1. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, carrying instructions, which when executed by at least one cellular network node, performs operations, comprising:
 identify downlink (DL) frequency resources available for transmission to a user equipment (UE); 
 identify in-use or granted UE uplink (UL) frequency resources,
 wherein an UL frequency resource corresponds to a first radio access technology (RAT), different from a second RAT, and 
 wherein the DL frequency resources available for transmission to the UE use the second RAT; 
 
 determine at least one frequency a predetermined position or frequency away from the in-use or granted UL frequency resources; 
 determine a schedule for DL transmissions to the UE on the identified DL frequency resources other than on the determined at least one frequency; and 
 based on the schedule, cause a base station to transmit DL transmissions using one or more amplifiers,
 wherein the base station has first and second radios for the first and second RATs, respectively, 
 wherein the first and second radios share the one or more amplifiers, and 
 wherein the schedule minimizes or reduces intermodulation distortion (IMD) of the one or more amplifiers. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The least one computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the cellular network node is configured for concurrent UL transmissions comprising concurrent E-UTRAN and 5G NR UL transmissions, and wherein the E-UTRAN and the 5G NR UL transmissions are on the same frequency band. 
     
     
       3. The at least one computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the cellular network node is configured for concurrent UL transmissions comprising dual connectivity transmissions with multiple uplink component carriers, and wherein each one of the component carriers in the multiple uplink component carriers is in the same frequency band. 
     
     
       4. The at least one computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying UL frequency resources in use by the UE for concurrent uplink (UL) transmissions or granted to the UE for use for concurrent UL transmissions, and comprising identifying at least one of a E-UTRAN Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN) that uniquely identifies DL and UL frequency resources in a E-UTRAN radio access network, and a New Radio Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (NR-ARFCN) that uniquely identifies the DL and UL frequency resources in a NR radio access network. 
     
     
       5. A computing device for use with a wireless network, the device comprising:
 at least one hardware processor; and 
 at least one tangible memory, storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one hardware processor, performs operations including:
 identifying downlink (DL) frequency resources available for transmission to a user equipment (UE); 
 identifying in-use or granted UE uplink (UL) frequency resources,
 wherein an UL frequency resource corresponds to a first radio access technology (RAT), different from a second RAT, and 
 wherein the DL frequency resources available for transmission to the UE use the second RAT; 
 
 determining at least one frequency a predetermined position or frequency away from the in-use or granted UL frequency resources; 
 determining a schedule for DL transmissions to the UE on the identified DL frequency resources other than on the determined at least one frequency; 
 
 based on the schedule, causing a base station to transmit DL transmissions using one or more amplifiers,
 wherein the base station has first and second radios for the first and second RATs, respectively, 
 wherein the first and second radios share the one or more amplifiers, and 
 wherein the schedule minimizes or reduces intermodulation distortion (IMD) of the one or more amplifiers. 
 
 
     
     
       6. The device of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving an indication of a set of downlink (DL) resource blocks scheduled to carry downlink information to the UE, wherein the downlink information comprises downlink data or downlink control information. 
     
     
       7. The device of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving first and second uplink UL grant requests, which are requests for frequency resources for concurrent UL transmissions on different intra-band component carriers, and wherein at least one component carrier of the intra-band component carriers corresponds to the first or second RAT, and wherein the concurrent UL transmissions comprise a concurrent E-UTRAN UL transmission and a New Radio (NR) UL transmission. 
     
     
       8. The device of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving first and second uplink UL grant requests for frequency resources for concurrent UL transmissions, wherein the concurrent UL transmissions comprise dual connectivity transmissions with multiple uplink component carriers, and wherein each one of the component carriers in multiple component carriers is in the same frequency band. 
     
     
       9. The device of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving first and second uplink UL grant requests are requests for frequency resources for concurrent UL transmissions, wherein the concurrent UL transmissions comprise multiple-uplink, carrier aggregation transmissions. 
     
     
       10. The device of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving first and second UL grant requests from the UE,
 wherein the first and second UL grant requests are requests for frequency resources for concurrent UL transmissions on different intra-band component carriers, wherein the different intra-band component carriers comprise component carriers in E-UTRAN band 71 and component carriers in NR band n71, and 
 wherein the E-UTRAN band 71 band and the NR band n71 operate around 600 MHz. 
 
     
     
       11. The device of  claim 5 , further comprising selecting a first and second subsets of UL resource blocks,
 wherein the first and second subsets of UL resource blocks are selected to minimize intermodulation distortion products created by a transceiver block in the UE, wherein the intermodulation distortion products created by the transceiver block in the UE comprise third order intermodulation products created by a power amplifier configured to concurrently amplify a first signal carried by the first subset of resource blocks, and a second signal carried by the second subset of resource blocks. 
 
     
     
       12. An apparatus configured to receive a grant of user equipment (UE) frequency resources for uplink (UL) transmissions within a wireless network of a first radio access technology (RAT) operating in a dual connectivity mode with a second RAT, different from the first RAT, the apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor configured to communicate with the wireless network; and 
 at least one non-transitory memory, coupled to the at least one processor, and storing instructions for:
 receiving scheduling for downlink (DL) transmissions for use by the apparatus on identified DL frequency resources other than on a determined at least one frequency, 
 wherein the identified DL frequency resources are identified as being available for the UE; 
 wherein in-use or granted UE uplink (UL) frequency resources are identified,
 wherein an UL frequency resource corresponds to the first radio access technology (RAT), different from the second RAT, and 
 
 wherein the at least one frequency is a predetermined position or frequency away from the in-use or granted UL frequency resources 
 based on the scheduling, causing one or more amplifiers to transmit DL transmissions,
 wherein first and second radios share the one or more amplifiers, 
 wherein the first and second radios are for the first and second RATs, respectively, and 
 wherein the scheduling minimizes or reduces intermodulation distortion (IMD) of the one or more amplifiers. 
 
 
 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the first RAT and the second RAT comprise Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) or 5G New Radio (NR) radio access technologies, and wherein the UL transmissions comprise concurrent E-UTRAN UL transmissions, concurrent NR UL transmissions, or concurrent E-UTRAN and NR UL transmissions. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein first and second uplink UL grant requests are received that are requests for frequency resources for concurrent UL transmissions, wherein the concurrent UL transmissions comprise concurrent E-UTRAN UL transmission in E-UTRAN band 71 at around 600 MHz, and NR UL transmissions in NR and n71 at around 600 MHz, and the DL transmissions comprise E-UTRAN DL transmissions in E-UTRAN band 71 or NR DL transmissions in NR band n71. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the DL transmissions comprise E-UTRAN band 3 DL transmissions at around 1.8 GHz, and wherein the UL transmissions comprise NR band n78 UL transmissions at around 3.5 GHz. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein multiple frequency resources are identified in use for the DL transmissions to the UE or scheduled for use for the DL transmissions to the UE, and multiple frequency resources are identified as available to grant to the UE for UL transmissions, and at least one of a E-UTRAN Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN) is identified that uniquely identifies DL and UL frequency resources in a E-UTRAN radio access network, and a New Radio Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (NR-ARFCN) is identified that uniquely identifies DL and UL frequency resources in a NR radio access network. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein first and second subsets of frequency resources are identified based on coordination between an EUTRAN scheduler and a 5G NR scheduler. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the 5G NR operates in at least one of a next generation NodeB (gNB) and a next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB).